2014 Informer acticle on early New York Mafia

[johnny_scootch]

You're welcome. Any other questions just ask.

I guess one thing I would add about this, the takeaway from our article, is that it details the early NYC Mafia and the foundations that lead it to become a dominating and leading force in the worldwide Italian underworld. Every group, especially in Italy, looked to America or admired their power here. But before we go there, we must have an understanding that the early Mafia (1870-1900) were very small groups, no more than 10-20 members per Family in Sicily. They didn't make anybody and everybody nor did they aspire to have an army. But one thing the mafia doesn't control is immigration and how NYC handled it's overflow of Mafiosi entering the area is something to be observed and recognized.

For starters, as Antiliar stated, Italo immigration followed a padrone system with chain and work migration, this lead to formations of colonies. The Mafia followed suit, and given that it's a secret society, the people generally admitted are relatives, close friends and compaesani generally from the same city or area of Sicily, we'll call them factions. In the New World of NYC, these factions were set up across the 5 boroughs and gradually began infusing people encountered locally who, while Italian, may have come from a different region.

The guiding forces of the NYC Mafia was Morello from 1900-1910 and then D'Aquila until 1928. Under their leadership, we seen the formation and evolution of 3 to 4 and then 5 centralized groups. NYC's Mafia membership in terms of numbers may have only been secondary to Palermo! But even more amazing is that Palermo was divided up between more families, in fact when one grew too large it split. That didn't happen in New York City. There never was a Harlem or Brooklyn Mafia in the sense that one family controlled that district exclusively. And while the Bonannos dominated Williamsburgh, the Gambinos Red Hook etc it was essentially 5 groups with members spread out across the city by 1920. Interesting that they didn't splinter into smaller groups, there could have easily have been 11 Families. We can speculate as to why that occurred, but in the end that really made the New York Mafia into the semi-Godfather esque "Ceasar's army" model that it had for a period.

Now we don't have an accurate total of memberships, but Gentile estimated 2000 and Clemente 3000 in the 1920's. Whether that's true or not, we do know that by the 1960's the NYC still maintained large numbers and had made strong inroads into legitimate industry. NYC was becoming highly respected by the Mafia in Sicily to the point where America influenced the formation of the post WW2 Commission and according to Bill Bonanno asked his father if America would be interested in an American-Sicilian ruling body. And the Bonannos also had the clout to go to Montreal and bring in what seems to have been a Calabrian 'ndrangheta crew. Montreal remains another interesting scenario of what happens when you cross breed Calabrian, American and Sicilian memberships. Kinda sheds light on why that remains so fucking confusing. And I don't believe we can use an "American LCN" model when it comes to viewing Canadian OC evolution, yes it mirrors it in certain ways but quite frankly there's other elements that the American model didn't have to contend with.

Another takeaway is that mafiosi, as individuals, accomplished very little in the scheme of the national mafia, rather it's the result of the many components involved that made this system function. The mafia didn't so much organize as much as evolve. Granted there are certain figures who had a big impact: Capone, Maranzano, Luciano, Masseria among others, but as to any national change, well that remains questionable.

Thats a great post.


Im interested in Mineo.....He switched families? If you could shed any light on that situation I'd appreciate it.

[Angelo Santino]

Thanks. It's a learning progress and I expect all of this to be obsolete in another decade but I'm comfortable with influencing the argument in a factually accurate direction. My life's work .

As far as Mineo goes, he was boss of the second Palermitan Family (Colombos) and it appears Masseria "Installed" him as boss of the Gambinos much like he did or attempted to with other NY Families, Detroit, Chicago and perhaps Cleveland. Maybe Masseria speculated that Mineo would fair well given he was the second top Palermitan after D'Aquila who was dead or maybe Mineo seen it as a promotion to take over the largest and oldest family. Who knows.

He took over the Gambinos, Salvatore DiBella took the Colombos, Mineo was murdered, DiBella stepped down and Profaci took over.

His Family, the Colombos are interesting for several reasons.
1) Most of their members were concentrated in South Brooklyn (not Red Hook, contemporary "south") and unlike every other family, didn't seem to branch into other boroughs. With the exception of the Gallos and maybe a dozen others, I've never seen much activity in Manhattan, Williamsburgh or the Bronx. I wonder if that was an agreed upon arrangement when the family split in 1912, or it could just be all coincidental. Stranger things have happened.

2) Not during Mineo's era but in the 60's regarding the Neapolitan element, it appears that Dellacroce and the Gallos were allies and this allowed for the Gallos to temporary "go under" the Gambinos for protection. I really need to start delving into the Neapolitan element of NYC, I'm largely ignorant about it.

3) I strongly suspect that when Mineo and D'Aquila weren't fighting they encountered each other quite frequently, both of their Palermo connections were within blocks of each other and they most likely were members of neighboring Families. In the 10's and 20's Palermo and New York were interwoven and the Palermo Mafia relied on their American counterparts to deal in citrus, wine, fruits, olives in the USA. It should be no surprise that many Gambinos and Colombos dealt in that line of work.

4) Before you ask anything else, I probably don't know the answer. Mineo is still very much a mystery, what's known about him could fit on one page and he was a reigning leader for 2 decades. And there are still many mysteries surrounding the Colombos, we didn't conclude anything with the article. There's more to learn and I hope one day somebody does.

[Angelo Santino]

Morello was an emotional guy

Well not for nothing but I can't think of a better time to be emotional. The man was sentenced based on his black hand reputation dating back the Barrel Murder. What should have been 4-5 years max became 20. He was probably fucking shocked. Certainly all of NYC was, counterfeiting all but slowed to a halt following their conviction. Had he not been Morello it would have been two years. Now we can view it as a kind of justice, I'm certainly not trying to "Dan" him up, but putting myself in his position, umm yeah I'd fucking flip out in court too. It's like expecting to serve 30 days for unpaid traffic tickets and you get slapped with 7 years.

And interestingly, I have proof and can form an argument that Comito lied, his whole kidnapping story doesn't hold up, especially considering he went to get the molds after everyone got arrested. That guy made out like a bandit and absconded to South America. It would not surprise me at all if he became someone of prominence (legit) in Buenos Aires under an assumed name we'll never know.

[Antiliar]

I was just being facetious about Morello.

[Angelo Santino]

I was just being facetious about Morello.

I know. I was just sharing my thoughts. It's been a few years since I looked at all this and I'm running on memory.

[Confederate]

I think you two guys are FABULOUS Researchers. But hey, What do I know. lol
Anyway, my questions are as follows:
How did the Mafia/Camorra Italian American New York guys hook up with say Marcello or Trafficante or the Boss in Colorado?
If it was not a conspiracy, just a lot of coincidental immigration, how did they hook up to form some kind of nationwide Commission?
Did it just happen after some years passed and the REPUTATIONS of other Italian Mobsters came to the attention of New York?
Where does Chicago play into this scenario? They seemed to be very strong in the early days also?

Sorry for the multiple questions.

[Angelo Santino]

I think you two guys are FABULOUS Researchers. But hey, What do I know. lol
Anyway, my questions are as follows:
How did the Mafia/Camorra Italian American New York guys hook up with say Marcello or Trafficante or the Boss in Colorado?
If it was not a conspiracy, just a lot of coincidental immigration, how did they hook up to form some kind of nationwide Commission?
Did it just happen after some years passed and the REPUTATIONS of other Italian Mobsters came to the attention of New York?
Where does Chicago play into this scenario? They seemed to be very strong in the early days also?

Sorry for the multiple questions.

The Mafia was a western Sicilian phenomenon connected by structure, codes and ceremony and recognized members from every branch, be it Palermo, Corleone, Sciacca, Trapiani, Cast and everywhere in between. But remember, Sicily was an island that can fit into most US states. The fact that they maintained familial and friendship relations nationally and internationally is endemic of the culture and not of Mafiosi exclusively. For every mafioso that traveled to various cities working different jobs there were probably 80-100 legitimate Ital's doing the exact same thing.

As far as their maintaining national cohesion, it evolved as transportation did. In the 1900's letters were being exchanged between NYC and New Orleans, New Jersey, Boston, Scranton, San Francisco. By 1905 automobiles and upgrades in the railroad system allowed for better transportation and that's when you first see some national ruling body, first ID'd in 1909.

And mafiosi liked the form networks and you seen it with counterfeit distribution across statelines to bootlegging transportation. Bootlegging modernized the AM in my opinion by taking it out of extortion and kidnapping and into bootlegging which evolved into illicit gambling as main ventures. While extortion has been a trait for 100 years one cannot argue that the US mafia has been tamed, certainly no businesses blown up daily or children being kidnapped and fingers/ears mailed with ransom. Make no mistake, these fuckers were terrorists in the 1900-1910's.

But some people wonder why not a family here or there or why didn't this family send guys to this or that area. And it just wasn't designed to operate that way. Immigration determined why there was a family in every city there was. There could be a city with 4 million Italians but with 0 Sicilians then there won't be a Mafia Family there.

Outside of New York when you go to the midwest, territory or areas of representation expanded across the state that each family operated in. Cleveland and Pittsburgh were truly statewide Outfits, each with a relatively little amount of made members. My argument and thesis being: without having to compete with 4 other families in a close metropolitan city for associates, families that had territory to themselves had a monopolization and could make members sparingly. One might ask why didn't John Scalish of Cleveland beef up his regimes with 10 made guys to have actual decine, he certainly had a wide pool of made guy's relatives as well as long time associates to choose from. The reason being it was less a hierarchy that practiced trickle up economics and more of an exclusive society with a representative and senior members all formed from the chiefs of the underworld. Less people bigger slices of the pie the thinking went. Good for Scalish but not good for the organization's longevity. The Chiefs aged and died and their Indians were all in their 70's. To put it in perspective Cleveland circa 1984 was Philadelphia circa 1989 after Scarfo went away. Unlike Philly, Cleveland had no Merlino.

New Orleans I can't answer about, I know next to nothing. Antiliar knows alot but that's another upcoming project and cannot be discussed.

[Confederate]

Thank You. Your answer makes sense.
Where do the non Sicilians fit into the Picture?
A lot of American Mafioso came from Naples And Calabria.
Vito Genovese was just one prime example.
How did the OTHER Southern Italian Mobsters figure into the early picture?

[Angelo Santino]

Thank You. Your answer makes sense.
Where do the non Sicilians fit into the Picture?
A lot of American Mafioso came from Naples And Calabria.
Vito Genovese was just one prime example.
How did the OTHER Southern Italian Mobsters figure into the early picture?

The Mafia came to America and recruited people who were connected to existing mafiosi. In time as people lived in America longer they mixed with the larger Italian colony and not just the Sicilian one and recruited the brightest. The wall broke in 1920 with bootlegging but it wasn't all equal. You'll see less in the Bonannos and more in the Genoveses. Was up to each family.

People tend to have this idea that Italos from various province have a hatred of one another. Granted there are biases but it's not the movie 300 and more often than not people got along. Mafiosi were for the most part pragmatists and they got along with other criminals more often than not.

[Villain]

Not in Chicago

[Angelo Santino]

Not in Chicago

Chicago too via the North Side as well as Chicago Heights before 1930. But the Outfit post 1930's after the merger is a different scenario. Chicago much like the Genoveses represent the most heterogeneous of Crime Families as opposed to the far more conservative Elizabeth or Bonanno Families (pre-1970).

Capone's takeover as boss couldn't have occurred politically without the blessing of NY forces. Had Capone acted on his own out of the blue and killed the Chicago leaders he and his group would have been ostracized and perhaps may have even had to deal with hit teams sent their way. Instead, Capone went about it the right way and got Masseria's sanction. It was one of the arguing points Maranzano levied against him. After he got the sanction and became Chicago Representative for the American Mafia, he was free to do whatever (within reason). But he wasn't at the helm of the Mafia for very long and I feel his successors Paul Ricca and Frank Nitti deserve a great deal of credit for making the Outfit what it was. And since they weren't from a western Sicilian Mafia background you don't see those traits surfacing as much as you do in NY.

[johnny_scootch]

His Family, the Colombos are interesting for several reasons.
1) Most of their members were concentrated in South Brooklyn (not Red Hook, contemporary "south") and unlike every other family, didn't seem to branch into other boroughs. With the exception of the Gallos and maybe a dozen others, I've never seen much activity in Manhattan, Williamsburgh or the Bronx. I wonder if that was an agreed upon arrangement when the family split in 1912, or it could just be all coincidental. Stranger things have happened.

So you believe that Lupo's family split when he went to prison with D'Aquila taking a large majority of the soldiers but allowing or agreeing to let Mineo set up a small family of his own?


Possible scenario.....the boss goes to jail and you get two factions opposing each other and rather then go to war they agree to terms.......Mineo is allowed to take his men and form his own family but they are restricted to certain territories and he agrees to support D'Aquila for capo dei capi. Zero bloodshed and everyone is happy for the time being. Seems plausible.

[Villain]

Not in Chicago

Chicago too via the North Side as well as Chicago Heights before 1930. But the Outfit post 1930's after the merger is a different scenario. Chicago much like the Genoveses represent the most heterogeneous of Crime Families as opposed to the far more conservative Elizabeth or Bonanno Families (pre-1970).

Capone's takeover as boss couldn't have occurred politically without the blessing of NY forces. Had Capone acted on his own out of the blue and killed the Chicago leaders he and his group would have been ostracized and perhaps may have even had to deal with hit teams sent their way. Instead, Capone went about it the right way and got Masseria's sanction. It was one of the arguing points Maranzano levied against him. After he got the sanction and became Chicago Representative for the American Mafia, he was free to do whatever (within reason). But he wasn't at the helm of the Mafia for very long and I feel his successors Paul Ricca and Frank Nitti deserve a great deal of credit for making the Outfit what it was. And since they weren't from a western Sicilian Mafia background you don't see those traits surfacing as much as you do in NY.

You got the history right but what i meant to say was that Chicago might've been one of those cities where many alleged Mafiosi or Italian criminals before Prohibition did not get along much.

Btw there was also Sicilian mob around Taylor St until the late 20's i think and also around Grand Avenue which lasted much longer

[Angelo Santino]

Not in Chicago

Chicago too via the North Side as well as Chicago Heights before 1930. But the Outfit post 1930's after the merger is a different scenario. Chicago much like the Genoveses represent the most heterogeneous of Crime Families as opposed to the far more conservative Elizabeth or Bonanno Families (pre-1970).

Capone's takeover as boss couldn't have occurred politically without the blessing of NY forces. Had Capone acted on his own out of the blue and killed the Chicago leaders he and his group would have been ostracized and perhaps may have even had to deal with hit teams sent their way. Instead, Capone went about it the right way and got Masseria's sanction. It was one of the arguing points Maranzano levied against him. After he got the sanction and became Chicago Representative for the American Mafia, he was free to do whatever (within reason). But he wasn't at the helm of the Mafia for very long and I feel his successors Paul Ricca and Frank Nitti deserve a great deal of credit for making the Outfit what it was. And since they weren't from a western Sicilian Mafia background you don't see those traits surfacing as much as you do in NY.

You got the history right but what i meant to say was that Chicago might've been one of those cities where many alleged Mafiosi before Prohibition did not get along much.

Btw there was also Sicilian mob around Taylor St until the late 20's i think and also around Grand Avenue which lasted much longer

Really? From what I seen the various groups moved in the same circles and were allies for longer than they were not. Before Capone went to war he was amicable with them. Same with Chicago Heights, you have photos of the two rival groups together. In fact I'd say their disputes were a result of prohibition rather than preceding it.

[Pogo The Clown]

Before Capone went to war he was amicable with them.

Oh yeah, I remember that picture of Dion O'Bannion lying there all amicable on the flower shop floor.


Pogo